Gunshots were fired near Guinea’s presidential palace in the capital, Conakry, on Thursday, prompting the military to lock down the city centre and evacuate the area immediately.
Fode Toure, a local journalist positioned a few hundred metres from the palace, described the chaos to The Associated Press: “I heard gunshots and saw people running away in panic.” An AP reporter near the scene confirmed seeing heavily armed soldiers patrolling the streets in response to the disturbance.
Guinea has been under military rule since 2021 when President Alpha Conde was ousted in a coup led by colonel Mamadi Doumbouya. Doumbouya, who took power three years ago, justified the coup by claiming he was preventing the country from slipping into chaos and accused the previous government of failing to deliver on its promises.
Since then, Doumbouya’s leadership has come under criticism for lacking transparency and progress. In February, Guinea’s military dissolved the government without explanation, vowing to appoint a new one, but offering no clear timeline. ECOWAS, the West African regional bloc, has been pushing for a swift return to civilian rule, with elections scheduled for 2025.
Doumbouya has consistently rebuffed foreign intervention, particularly from Western nations, arguing that African nations are “exhausted by the categorisations with which everyone wants to box us in.” His government, like others in West Africa, has turned to Russia for security support, distancing itself from long-standing military ties with Western powers.
Recent coups in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso have resulted in military juntas taking control, further complicating the West African region’s stability.